Martinsburg loses for first time since 2009 postseason

September 22, 2012

Eventually, Martinsburg's 32 game-winning streak, which included back-to-back undefeated seasons and consecutive Class AAA state titles, was going to come to an end.

Some thought it could happen last week as the Bulldogs played Morgantown on the road.

It didn't.

Some thought it might happen this week in a tough road test against an undefeated Westminster team that puts up offensive numbers fantasy football participants would drool over - if there was one for high school.

This time, it did happen.

Martinsburg led early, then rallied to within three points late on a few occasions, but in the end, an inspired Owls team, with a dynamite offense, was too much for the Bulldogs as they fell 36-33 Friday night at Ruby Field.

Martinsburg suffered its first loss since the quarterfinals of the state playoffs in 2009.

"It happens," Martinsburg coach Dave Walker said. "Give them a lot of credit. They came up with the big plays when they needed to."

The scene afterward was something out of movie, a David-versus-Goliath upset for most of the Westminster fans. However, the Owls came in confident and finished the night by slaying the mighty Bulldogs.

"What can you say?" Westminster coach Brad Wilson said. "That's a great program. They're well-coached, they're disciplined and they have great athletes. I just think our kids believed that they could win this game."

The Owls never looked intimidated, even when Martinsburg took its first lead of the game in the second quarter on a short 2-yard run by Trey Boyd. Or when the Bulldogs cut the lead to three on two separate occasions late in the game - on 95-yard kickoff return by Justin "Cookie" Clinton with 10:12 left and on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Clinton to Jordan Robinson with 2:10 remaining.

No, Westminster simply trotted onto the field and let its offense take of business, which it did as the Owls put up 405 yards on the Martinsburg defense.

Leading the charge was senior quarterback Deryk Kern, who was 23 of 43 passing for 359 yards and five touchdowns.

"Deryk and these receivers have been part of this offense for four years now," Wilson said. "They know it inside and out, and tonight, they ran it extremely well."

Kern and the Owls came up with big plays all night - especially on third and fourth downs and most especially late in the game.

From mid-third quarter on , the game went back and forth.

The Bulldogs went ahead 19-14 with 6:37 left in the third quarter after Clinton broke free on a 73-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed.

After a long Martinsburg drive that ended with an unsuccessful fourth-and-2 try, Westminster struck again just five plays later as Kern connected with Bradley Metcalf on a 15-yard pass and a third-and-10 play, extending the Owls' lead 29-19.

Things, however, were far from done.

Just seconds later , on the ensuing kickoff, Clinton went 95 yards for the score, speeding down the sideline, then back toward midfield, all the way for the score. The extra point cut the lead to 29-26.

Not shaken, Westminster responded with a 12-play, 61-yard drive that was aided by a Bulldog unnecessary roughness penalty. The drive ended with Bean catching an 11-yard touchdown pass in the middle of the end zone on fourth-and-10. The score moved to 36-26.

"We did what we could to stop them, but we didn't make enough plays," Walker said. "When you give up 36 points, you're not going to beat anybody."

The Bulldogs had one last march in them as Robinson's touchdown catch in the right corner of the end zone from Clinton got the lead to 36-33.

However, the onside kick failed, and Westminster ran out the clock with a handful of plays.

According to Wilson, his team showed some guts down the stretch.

"I didn't really have to say anything to them," Wilson said. "They believed in themselves all the way. When two teams go back and forth like that, one team scoring, then the other team scoring, it was just a great high school football game."

It was a great performance by Clinton, who ran for 154 yards and a touchdown, threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns, including one to Cedric Brown in the second quarter, and had the kickoff return.

"Justin carried us much of this game," Walker said.

The Bulldogs carried their 32- game winning streak through almost two-and-a-half seasons. That's something that rarely happens.

It was the seventh-longest winning streak in the nation going into Friday's game.